Miley Cyrus and Her Social Issues

             Before I delve into this too deeply, I want to state some inarguable facts about Miley Cyrus.

            Miley is a talented singer and a talented performer.  Miley has been in show business for quite a long time, starting at quite a young age.  Because of the above facts, I like a lot of Miley Cyrus’s songs, and I look forward to her hosting stints on SNL because she’s a funny performer and game for anything.

            I also have some nonessential opinions about Miley Cyrus.  I’ve stopped caring about her sticking her tongue out.  She’s going to do it.  It’s weird, sure, but it’s overall not the worst thing in the world.  Secondly, I wish she’d stop talking about weed all the time.  It’s really not that interesting.  Everyone smokes weed.  Multiple states have not only decriminalized it, they’ve flat out legalized it.  It’s not edgy to smoke weed.  Also, if you have to tell everybody how edgy are, you probably aren’t all that edgy to begin with.  Finally, I think she looks dope with short hair.  She’s got great cheek bones, and the pixie cut really shows that off.

            Miley Cyrus, as a sociological figure, is fascinating.  When she discusses gender and sexuality issues, she comes off as a bright, educated, intelligent, and insightful speaker.  She’s done her research.  She’s adding visibility to a lot of these issues.  By coming out as genderqueer and pansexual, she’s not only teaching people what these words mean, she’s teaching them that to identify with these labels is acceptable.  Sexuality and gender are not categorical, they are spectrums. 

I also appreciate that she calls herself a feminist.  I personally think the Free the Nipple movement is a little silly, but I can respect Miley’s comments on it.  They’re thoughtful and compelling. 

            When you hear Cyrus talk about gender and sexuality issues, you get excited about a new, exciting voice in pop culture today – one that is socially aware and self-aware, one whose opinions and insights you want to hear more of (if she stopped f*cking talking about weed – nobody cares you smoke weed).   Cyrus speaks intelligently about gender and sexuality, but she also tells jokes and makes it relatable as she does so.  She’s exactly the kind of spokesperson you want when it comes to bring visibility to LGBTQIA issues outside of gay marriage (they exist!).

            Unfortunately, Cyrus has a major blindspot.  However well she speaks to gender and sexuality issues, Cyrus speaks just as poorly on race.  She’s been accused of appropriation for years now, and instead of exploring why she’s being accused of it and how she can fix it, she’s leaned in to the appropriation even further.  When speaking on Nicki Minaj’s comments earlier this year, she ignored the validity of Minaj’s comments and focused on tone, and then doubled down at the VMAs by ignoring the wider social implications of Minaj’s comments and instead acting as though Minaj was only talking about herself, as a singular person, rather than for black women as a whole.  Her reaction to racial criticism is juvenile and ignorant, and as of now she shows absolutely no signs of correcting her behavior.  It’s too bad, because it makes her intelligent commentary on queer culture seem almost self-serving.  Cyrus only cares about social issues as they pertain to her.  If she has to change her behavior, or if she has to examine her own privilege, Cyrus is not interested.

            Cyrus is still young, so she has plenty of time to grow and mature and learn.  When I hear her talk about exploring her gender and sexual identity, I hear a woman interested in exploring the world outside of the social and cultural norms of mainstream society.  I only hope she takes that same intellectual curiosity and applies it to all aspects of our culture today.